Warning: Contains SPOILERS for MultiVersus: Collision Detected #5! Scooby-Doo crossover event, which has just traumatized Scooby and Shaggy with the sight of an actual gory murder - and I did not have that on my 2024 bingo card.
In a preview for MultiVersus: Collision Detected #5 by Bryan Q. Miller and Jon Sommariva, characters from across the Warner Bros. multiverse have ed forces to defeat the evil entity that threatens all of their respective worlds: The Nothing. The likes of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are working with Steven Universe, Bugs Bunny, and - of course - Scooby-Doo and Shaggy.
After the whole gang of universally-displaced heroes took down the Joker (who brought his unique brand of chaos to an already troublesome situation), Scooby-Doo and Shaggy learn first-hand why the Clown Prince of Crime is such a truly disturbing villain. The Joker previously stole an ambulance, and he murdered the EMTs upon doing so. With the Joker in the heroes’ custody, Scooby and Shaggy decide to check out the ambulance to see if the villain had any more tricks up his sleeve. Unfortunately, the only things in the ambulance were mangled, bloody corpses.
I Can’t Believe the Joker Traumatized Scooby-Doo & Shaggy (But It is About Time)
Scooby-Doo has had a Number of Batman Crossovers, but None Like This
While the murder of innocent people is never something that should be taken lightly, it was still darkly hilarious watching this scene unfold. Even though they were looking at a gruesome murder scene, Scooby and Shaggy still reacted in their usual cartoony manner. Blood literally smeared the back window of the ambulance, and Scooby and Shaggy were just like, “nothing but two EMTs who were really down on their luck”, “Rur rorruhr”. The two reacted like they just saw the EMTs slipping on a banana peel, not their mangled corpses in the back of an ambulance.
While that was pretty funny, the truth is that Scooby and Shaggy have never seen anything so horrific like that before, and it was the Joker who made them witness it - and it’s about time. With the amount of Scooby-Doo/Batman crossovers there are, I’ve always wondered how the Mystery Gang never encountered the darkest corners of Gotham City, especially when it comes to the Joker. But now, Scooby and Shaggy understand that the Joker isn’t just a silly villain, he’s a deranged psychopath, and I don’t think I’m out of line by saying they’ll never be the same.
This Isn’t the First Time Scooby-Doo has Been Exposed to True Horror
Supernatural season 13, episode 16 "Scoobynatural"
This scene in MultiVersus immediately reminded me of the Scooby-Doo/Supernatural crossover episode: "Scoobynatural". In it, Sam and Dean Winchester travel to the Scooby-Doo universe, and they bring a supernatural entity along with them. Supernatural is a famously gory show, and that level of horrific violence is put on full display right in front of the Mystery Gang - and it’s as hilarious as you could imagine. The gang even has a collective existential crisis at one point, hammering home how unfamiliar they are with the true horrors of gory violence.
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Throwing Scooby-Doo and the gang into realistically gruesome crime scenes is always funny, because it shows you how they’d react if they encountered an actual murderer or horrific entity during one of their silly mysteries. However, while it’s funny for you and me, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy might disagree, as they were just traumatized by an actual gory murder. And even if that’s been a long time coming, I still can’t believe Scooby-Doo actually did that.
MultiVersus: Collision Detected #5 by DC Comics is available November 13, 2024.
The Scooby-Doo franchise is an iconic animated media series that began in 1969 with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. The series follows the adventures of Mystery Inc.—a group of teenagers and their talking Great Dane, Scooby-Doo, as they solve mysteries involving supposedly supernatural creatures. Over the years, the franchise has expanded into numerous animated series, films (both animated and live-action), comic books, video games, and specials. Its blend of mystery, humor, and memorable characters has made it one of the longest-running and most beloved franchises in animation.
